This has to be quick as I need to get to bed. I'm heading 'up-country' to Kamakwie tomorrow morning. This is a small town up north, near the Guinean border. A lot's been happening in the past few days which is partly why I haven't written much.
Been hanging out with the two Dutch women who have come for a holiday/research project. Housemates, Sunil and Steve, managed to make it to Freetown, overland from the UK. Had more warm G&T with them. Tales of bribery, arrested drivers, barren desert landscapes, the worlds longest train in Mauritania, the two ends of which disappear into the horizon (I hope I can link a picture sometime, it looked incredible!), dodgy dealing in Guinea... They have landed a semi-free apartment in Freetown now.
Met up with other medical students working at the local childrens hospital, chatted to a local journalist about all things Sierra Leone. I couldn't believe the children's hospital hasn't had an X-ray machine for 5 years. Things are tough, and I don't pretend to understand the complexities of how things work, but it's easy to see how under-resourced the country is.
Local doctors are paid Le300,000 a month, about $75, but those employed by NGOs can receive more than 10 times that salary - $1000 a month. Not a big sum for a British doctor, but it doesn't take a genius to see that this sort of a set up in a country, distorting the employment market, really can undermine governments efforts to build an effective healthcare sector.
Oh, and I hear the lost ship has been found now. I thought I saw it on the horizon, but I don't think it was the same boat.
Right, really must go to bed now. Will post soon. I hope everyone is well.
No comments:
Post a Comment